[Federal Register: March 15, 2011 (Volume 76, Number 50)]
[Notices]
[Page 14050-14051]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15mr11-110]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[2253-65]
Notice of Intent To Repatriate a Cultural Item: U.S. Department
of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC and Arizona
State Museum, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3005, of the intent
to repatriate a cultural item in the control of the U.S. Department of
the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Washington, DC, and in the
physical custody of the Arizona State Museum, University of Arizona,
Tucson, AZ, that meets the definition of sacred object and object of
cultural patrimony under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The
determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the cultural
item. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
The cultural item is a medicine bundle, consisting of a sack made
from the hide of a small mammal, which contains a necklace composed of
large animal claws and shells, one separate large animal claw, two
crystals wrapped in fiber, two shell pendants and one bead on a string,
one projectile point, one stone disk, one shell disk, one hide bundle
containing a reddish-orange mineral, two tied bundles with undetermined
contents, and two empty hide bundles. In 1931, the item was recovered
at Broken Flute Cave, AZ E:8:1(ASM), located on the Navajo Indian
Reservation, in Apache County, AZ, during excavations conducted by
[[Page 14051]]
the Carnegie Institution of Washington under the direction of Earl
Morris. The item was transferred from the Carnegie Institution to the
Arizona State Museum in 1957.
Consultations with representatives of the Navajo Nation have
identified the object as a Navajo jish (Medicine Bundle) used in the
H[oacute]ch[oacute]'[iacute]j[iacute] (Evil Way Ceremony). The
identification is supported by detailed information provided by
traditional Navajo religious practitioners regarding the use and origin
of the object and its contents.
The Navajo people believe that jish are alive and must be treated
with respect. The primary purpose of the jish is to cure people of
diseases, mental and physical illness, and to restore beauty and
harmony. Accordingly, no single individual can truly own any jish. The
right to control jish is outlined by Navajo traditional laws, which
vest this responsibility in Hataa[lstrok]ii (Medicine persons).
Hataa[lstrok]ii are not owners of jish, but only care, utilize, and
bequeath them for the Navajo people. The jish was discovered in the
fill of a pithouse at the archeological site of Broken Flute Cave, but
may have been intrusive from a later time period. According to
information provided by traditional religious practitioners, jish have
occasionally been placed in previously existing archeological contexts
for safekeeping.
Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(C), that the
cultural item described above is a specific ceremonial object needed by
traditional Native American religious leaders for the practice of
traditional Native American religions by their present-day adherents.
Officials of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, also have determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(3)(D), that
the cultural item described above has ongoing historical, traditional,
or cultural importance central to the Native American group or culture
itself, rather than property owned by an individual. Lastly, officials
of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, have
determined, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001(2), that there is a relationship
of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced between the
sacred object/object of cultural patrimony and the Navajo Nation of
Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to
be culturally affiliated with the sacred object/object of cultural
patrimony should contact Garry Cantley, Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Western Regional Office, 2600 N. Central Ave., 12th floor, Phoenix, AZ
85004, telephone (602) 379-6750, ext.1256, before April 14, 2011.
Repatriation of the sacred object/object of cultural patrimony to the
Navajo Nation of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah may proceed after that
date if no additional claimants come forward.
The U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, is
responsible for notifying the Navajo Nation of Arizona, New Mexico and
Utah that this notice has been published.
Dated: March 9, 2011.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. 2011-5848 Filed 3-14-11; 8:45 am]
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